A compelling autobiographical account of a young artist's journey from childhood to mature artist, with a highly unusual side trip into a unique approach to nature conservancy. Grimaud is clearly a passionate, iconoclastic and utterly facinatiing person whom one would be intrigued to meet and get to know personally -- but who would likely be a challenging and perhaps exasperating one to have as a friend. Her frank account of her rebellious teenage years and of her first encounter with the wolf are particularly memorable.